A stabbing on Interstate 476 sent a suspect fleeing into Radnor Township on Sunday, Sept. 6. The incident triggered a police chase and a brief lockdown at Villanova University before officers captured the suspect near Lancaster Avenue.
The stabbing happened just after 5:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes of the Blue Route near mile marker 15, according to CBS Philadelphia. Law enforcement sources told the station a driver stabbed another motorist during a road-rage confrontation, then fled in a U-Haul truck. A family member of the suspect followed in a separate vehicle.
Witnesses told police the victim was stabbed in the stomach during a fight, NBC10 reported. The victim suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, according to law enforcement sources cited by 6abc.
Pennsylvania State Police pursued the suspect off the interstate and into Radnor Township. During the chase, a Lower Merion Township police officer crashed at Pennswood Road and Montgomery Avenue in Lower Merion, NBC10 reported. The officer was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, according to CBS Philadelphia.
The suspect ditched the U-Haul at a Sunoco station at Lancaster Avenue and County Line Road, then ran into a nearby neighborhood, law enforcement sources told CBS Philadelphia. Police received reports during the foot chase that the suspect was armed with a gun and a knife, according to NBC10.
Radnor Township police captured the suspect at Unkefer Park, according to 6abc. The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing a Radnor police Facebook post, reported the arrest took place without incident in the 1000 block of East Lancaster Avenue. Police recovered a discarded knife believed to have been used in the alleged stabbing.
The suspect's family member was also arrested by Pennsylvania State Police, CBS Philadelphia reported.
Police have not identified either person taken into custody. Investigators were still working to determine what sparked the confrontation on the highway.
Villanova University issued a campus lockdown at 6:10 p.m. as a precautionary measure while police searched the area, according to the university's alert system as reported by the Inquirer. An earlier alert warned that the person being sought was armed. The lockdown lifted at 6:41 p.m. after the suspect was apprehended off campus.
Radnor Township Police said in a Facebook statement that all involved parties were in custody and that there was no ongoing threat to the community.
Pennsylvania State Police are leading the investigation.
Residents can follow the Radnor Township Police Department's Facebook page for updates. Anyone with information about the incident can contact Pennsylvania State Police.
